As the Indian middle class expands, consumption patterns show that traditional foods are gradually making way for First World ingredients and cuisines

Ten years ago, Sheila Mishra, 35, a homemaker from South Delhi's Lajpat Nagar, says she had a fixed weekly menu when she was cooking dinner for her family. The days may have varied but she knew there would be paneer at least twice a week, a potato dish on most days, a seasonal vegetable- okra, lauki (bottle gourd), eggplant or carrot-and a dal. On weekends, she would cook a chicken dish or her husband would order in from a restaurant. It made life in the kitchen easier to plan but it also made for very predictable dinner-time fare.

Over the past three or four years though, Mishra, like millions of other Indians, has seen a transformation in the way her family views their lunch or dinner. "Several new dishes have now become regular fixtures that we earlier only heard about or saw on TV. I now try to experiment with new vegetables such as broccoli or zucchini," Mishra explains. The other change, she says, is that non-vegetarian food is now cooked a lot more regularly since buying meat, both fresh and packaged, has become easier.

Staple food varies depending on where you live in India. But the changes in Mishra's household reflect a larger trend in India's food consumption pattern-a move towards highvalue produce and protein-rich food. As incomes rise and living standards get better, middle-class Indian households now have access to a wider range of vegetables, oils, dairy and poultry products which they have readily incorporated into their cuisine.

The changes are not just at the household level but are all around us. In major cities, young professionals hit the gym every day and have made the switch to a more European-style cuisine-grilled chicken or fish, salads and yogurt-based smoothies. A business lunch or corporate buffet is more likely to have dishes such as spinach-corn and baked vegetables rather than aloo gobi or rajma. In markets, even in smaller cities, a variety of stalls now sell more 'exotic' food such as Mexican and Lebanese which features high-protein dips such as hummus. Cooking shows across TV channels now give you recipes for pasta and ravioli, while even a housewife in a small town has access in her local supermarket to ingredients such as olive oil and processed soya bean. We may not be getting healthier, primarily due to more sedentary lifestyles in white-collar jobs, but we are definitely getting fancier.

A 2013 report by the Confederation of Indian Industry and McKinsey notes that Indians are now spending much more on high-value foods, and consumption is shifting from plant-based to animal-based protein, thanks to increasing disposable incomes and evolving consumer needs. And while agricultural productivity grew over the last decade, there has been a qualitative shift from basic foodgrain to highvalue agriculture, especially fruits and vegetables. The report says that the increase in production of certain foods such as soya bean, mango, banana and poultry has been up to four times faster than rice and wheat.

The latest National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report released in 2014, India's official source of consumption, employment and other statistics, provides more insight into India's consumption habits as of 2011-2012. The report says the top 5 per cent of urban India spends Rs 3,000 per capita per month on groceries and eating out on average. This class consumes the least amount of cereals, save for derivative cereals such as noodles and bread, while their consumption of milk, eggs, meat and other processed foods rises. At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom 5 per cent of India spends just over Rs 400 per person per month on food and a quarter of this is on cereals.

NSSO data over the years confirms some of these as long-standing trends. The share of cereals in Indian household expenditure, for instance, has decreased from 41 per cent to 18 per cent in rural India and from 23 per cent to 10 per cent in urban India between 1972-73 and 2004. Data from 2004 also shows that Indians were moving away from locally available seasonal vegetables towards high-value vegetable produce such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and capsicum.

Recent reports show that the market for non-vegetarian products is expanding rapidly. Data from the OECD-FAO (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, UN Food and Agriculture Organization) Agricultural Outlook, 2014, shows chicken consumption in India grew at an annual rate of 5.9 per cent between 1992 and 2013. This makes India the fourth fastest-growing market for chicken while it is also the seventh for fish. "As income levels go up and people have more sedentary jobs, they don't require as many calories or energy," says economist Laveesh Bhandari.

"On the other hand, across the board, people need to have food with more micronutrients. They are now able to pay for these products and make it part of their regular diet." Accessibility, he says, changes food habits. "With new technology we are able to market fruits and vegetables better, which is why people are consuming more. The same trend is there now with chicken and eggs."

From the average household meal in a small town to a fine-dining experience in a big city, India's food experience is changing as fast as the aspirations of its people. These changes tell the story of not just where we are but what we could find on our plates in future.